Reports and Executive Summaries

Examples to Inspire


Business reports are not just school assignments—they are essential tools used in every industry to make decisions, communicate progress, and influence stakeholders. This appendix helps you understand what reports look like in your field, why strong communication matters, and how executive summaries make your work more usable and persuasive.


Section 1

Why Reports Matter in Business

Whether you work in accounting, marketing, tech, or HR, your writing needs to be:

  • Clear (so others can act on it),
  • Professional (so you build trust), and
  • Audience-centered (so it gets read).

Business reports are not just school assignments—they are essential tools used in every industry to make decisions, communicate progress, and influence stakeholders. This appendix helps you understand what reports look like in your field, why strong communication matters, and how executive summaries make your work more usable and persuasive.


Section 2

Reports by Industry

Accounting

Common Reports: Financial summaries, internal audits, variance analysis, tax memos

Audience: Executives, clients, regulators

Skills Needed: Clarity, precision, visual data presentation

  • Example 1: Internal Audit Memo
    Purpose: Highlight compliance issues in travel reimbursements
    Snapshot: Uses a short narrative with bullet points and an attached spreadsheet
  • Example 2: Budget Variance Report
    Purpose: Compare forecasted vs. actual expenses
    Snapshot: Includes tables with color-coded highlights and a one-paragraph executive summary

Marketing

Common Reports: Campaign reports, market research briefs, social media analytics

Audience: Marketing directors, product teams, clients

Skills Needed: Storytelling, data visualization, concision

  • Example 1: Social Media Analytics Report
    Purpose: Show engagement trends across platforms
    Snapshot: Charts paired with concise narrative; includes a recommendation to invest more in video content
  • Example 2: Campaign Performance Report
    Purpose: Evaluate KPIs (clicks, conversions, ROI)
    Snapshot: Slide deck format with annotated visuals and callouts

Global Supply Chain

Common Reports: Logistics updates, supplier assessments, inventory dashboards

Audience: Operations teams, suppliers, execs

Skills Needed: Specificity, concision, visual clarity

  • Example 1: Logistics Update Memo
    Purpose: Notify delay in international shipments
    Snapshot: Bullet-point summary with map visualization and risk mitigation plan
  • Example 2: Vendor Scorecard Report
    Purpose: Evaluate supplier performance
    Snapshot: Table showing delivery times, quality scores, contract compliance

Organizational Behavior / HR

Common Reports: Hiring justifications, policy proposals, culture surveys

Audience: HR teams, department heads, executives

Skills Needed: Empathy, logic, compliance

  • Example 1: DEI Policy Recommendation
    Purpose: Propose new inclusive hiring policy
    Snapshot: Short brief with evidence from peer companies and employee surveys
  • Example 2: Culture Survey Summary
    Purpose: Present employee engagement trends
    Snapshot: Graphs showing change over time, plus recommendations

Strategic Management

Common Reports: Strategic analysis, business model proposals, performance reviews

Audience: Senior leadership, boards, investors

Skills Needed: Executive tone, structured thinking, logical flow

  • Example 1: SWOT Analysis
    Purpose: Analyze a business opportunity
    Snapshot: Structured in four quadrants with brief narrative synthesis
  • Example 2: Business Model Pitch
    Purpose: Propose a new subscription strategy
    Snapshot: Slide deck with customer pain points, pricing tiers, projected ROI

Technology / Information Systems

Common Reports: Feature updates, bug reports, implementation plans

Audience: Product managers, developers, users

Skills Needed: Brevity, technical clarity, stakeholder awareness

  • Example 1: Feature Launch Memo
    Purpose: Announce a new product feature
    Snapshot: Brief explanation, timeline, screenshot of UI
  • Example 2: Incident Postmortem
    Purpose: Explain a system outage and fixes
    Snapshot: Timeline of events, root cause, and follow-up actions
Section 3

Compare Across Industries

Industry Common Report Types Typical Audience Key Success Factors
Accounting Audits, variance reports Execs, clients, regulators Accuracy, clarity, visual data
Marketing Campaign briefs, analytics CMOs, clients Persuasion, visuals, brevity
Supply Chain Logistics updates, scorecards Ops managers Specificity, efficiency
HR / OB Proposals, culture surveys Managers, execs Empathy, credibility, organization
Strategy SWOT, growth proposals Boards, investors Structured thinking, ROI focus
Tech / IS Memos, tech specs, postmortems Product teams, users Brevity, clarity, documentation


Section 4

Executive Summaries

What Is an Executive Summary?

A short, standalone overview of a report or presentation that lets the reader quickly understand the key message, evidence, and what comes next.

When Do You Use One?

Situation Executive Summary Needed?
A full report over 3 pages Yes
A business presentation for execs Yes (1–2 slides)
A one-page email memo No

Executive Summary Template

  • Problem: What is the problem facing the organization/team?
  • Solution: What do you recommend the organization do?
  • Analysis: How do we support this recommendation? Include a decision matrix here
  • Implementation: What are the major milestones along the way? Who will be in charge of each?
  • Risks: What are the obvious risks and how do you plan to mitigate them?
  • Impact: What is the overall impact of your recommendation on the organization?














Section 5

Tools and Templates

Strong communicators get promoted. Understanding how your industry uses reports—and how to summarize them clearly—makes you more valuable to any organization.

Section 6

Reports by industry

This section contains examples of business reports by industry. Not exhaustive, this section’s purpose is to provide a glimpse of what you might expect in an internship or at work. For more information on reports used in your industry of choice, visit library websites like the Vault Guide.

Accounting

How to Write an Accounting Report
Why Do You Need to Visualize Your Accounting Reports?

Example Report (1):

GLOBAL Supply Chain

Example Report (2):

Marketing

Organizational Behavior/Human Resources

Example Report (4):

Example Report (5):

Example Report (6):

Example Report (7):

Example Report (8):

Example Report (9):

Example Report (10):

Example Report (11):

strategic management

Example Report (2):

Example Report (3):


Example Report (4):

About
Badges
Contact